poptimists | The Historiography Of Pop Part 4 aka A Point Is All That Two Can Score

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The Historiography Of Pop Part 4 aka A Point Is All That Two Can Score

The dust has settled and 32 of 64 songs stand ready for the next round. Say a sad farewell to Ace of Base, Betty Boo, and - yes - Gorillaz among others. Then prepare for the next instalment of ALL OUT POP BATTLE.

i.e. pick which song you think is best.

In round 2 each song is facing one of its close contemporaries, the battle of the ages having proved indecisive.

[Poll #797787]

How the draw was decided:

i. Examination of real actual chart placing i.e. 2 for Human League, 7 for Pulp.
ii. Examination of tick % from revious now poll i.e. 79% for HL, 81% for P.
iii. These two things not being in agreement I just went for the one I liked best, seeing as it's me who's gone to the bother of polling these things. Bye Disco 2000!

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Some really heartbreaking choices there.

Aaliyah vs Sugababes particularly difficult for me. And Bush/PSB was wrenching.

PSB v Kate (but PSB will be back, right? last I looked Always On My Mind was thrashing the Chems) oh no!

I really hope Kelis and Aaliyah do well. They're really up against it.

Couldn't bring myself to vote against Giorgio or Frankie. I hope Sugababes don't win the whole thing, they keep getting (what in my mind are) easy draws so I keep voting for it.

Only one heartbreaker for me - Kylie vs. Aaliyah - but "Fascination" vs. "Relax" was difficult. "Relax" is great but I don't love it, while "Fascination" I love but don't think is really a worldbeater.

"Relax" always a bit overshadowed by "Two Tribes" for me. I still ticked it tho cos the Frankie sound/look/concept is so awesome.

How is Cyndi beating Giorgio 'n' Phil? Time after Time is a beautiful song, but Electric Dreams is one of the finest pop songs of all time. And all the more remarkable that it came from such a god-awful film. Has there ever been a better song from such a rubbish film?

I agree, I think. Though it is GREBT that at least one big tearful ballad has such mass support on poptimists.

YSI (http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=F2C30E2005D00451)

In all honesty, I'm not sure I'd ever heard this before. Good but not earth-shaking. (I also hope this is the original version - it's taken off a Human League "Best of".)

i actually didn't mind the film...

though i have memories as a kid, renting that video, and trying to tape the song from it, using a portable tape recorder placed near my telly...

...why "Mmmbop," which was pretty much a worldwide pop megahit, seems predetermined to lose to "Music Sounds Better With You," which was... well, I don't know. My perception was that it was fairly long-lived, but more of a club hit and kind of a "cool" pop song.

Partially it's our inner indie coming out (or Lex's clubby tendencies), but is that all?

I don't like either of them much and am a bit annoyed that one must progress.

"Mmmbop" is chirpy but a bit irritating.

"Music Sounds..." pretty much set the tone for pop-dance for the next several years though I think most of its imitators were better.

So it's not indieism so much as a genuflection to a 'genre classic' maybe.

Or it's just a better record.

Mmmbop appears to be viewed by most people as a silly novelty hit rather than a pop masterpiece. Even some of my pop-loving friends now seem to think of it in that way. Perhaps this has subconciously affected people's memory of quite how marvellous it is.

Music Sounds Better With You is a great club record, not a poptimist smash.

There's no difference, especially not when it got to #2! The great thing about poptimism is that it doesn't respect genre lines - pop can and will gobble up bits of everything if the hooks are good enough.

(I know, I'm just bitter about one of my favourites being beaten. Grr)

"Mmmmbop" was a reasonably catchy pop-rock hit that was instantly overshadowed by way better and catchier and smarter and more passionate pop-rock hits by the likes of the Spicies, Backstreet Boys, *NSync, Britney, etc. etc. etc. I also don't see any value in plumping for something on the basis of its being a worldwide megahit. So what?

It,s nothing to do with it being a global mega-hit. That's irrelevant.

While I agree that the next wave of pop hits may have been smarter, I really don't agree they are catchier. Plus they are all a lot more heavily-produced, while mmmbop has this naive exuberance coursing through it from start to finish that no amount of expert songwriters or producers could quite replicate. I'm not saying I don't like the other groups you mention, but there was something quite unique about mmmbop that could only have been produced by a group of kids that age.

What do you think of the Jonas Brothers? They haven't hit me yet, but then I haven't given them much of a chance. Their album's out just last week, and they're getting big play for "Year 3000" on Radio Disney but almost no play anywhere else. (Well, I don't know about MTV.) Anyway, they've definitely got a Hanson vibe to them.

would anyone even on poptimists rep for any other song by Hanson?

of the people behind Stardust, all but the vocalist have done better work elsewhere.

I have to side with the bosh. Hanson are immensely enjoyable pop fluff, but Stardust flicks that switch in my head that sends a shudder down my spine and makes the world seem like a wonderful place.

How is Stardust remotely indie?!

If I thought about it, I could probably come up with an explanation, given how loosely we use the term. But I was actually referring to us, rather than the song. Sure it's bosh, it's pop. But to me, at the time, it sounded like little else out there. There was something "credible" about it. (My gf at the time, in one of our final disagreements, insisted that it was actually The Cure. And she was the one who liked dance music.)

All French people are or have been indie at some point.

Aaliyah vs Sugababes particularly difficult for me. And Bush/PSB was wrenching.

Me too, the first because I want both to win, the second because I want both to lose. Actually I had no trouble deciding that I want that Bush creature to lose badly. But I may change my vote two or three times on the Aaliyah-'Babes dustup.

By the way, are you aware that the NOW tournament has the same number of contestants as the NCAA tournament? But the NCAAs are seeded, which you could have done easily enough if you'd thought of it - either "objectively" by basing rank on % scores, or more intelligently by using % as just one factor in making a general prediction on how well you'd think a song would do. And you still could have adjusted things so that first round was old vs. new.

(The main reason I regret our not having seedings is that I don't want Britney vs. Britney 'til the finals.)

Round three has to be called "The Sweet Sixteen."

And round five has to be called "The Final Four."

I am gutted that pure shores is going to lose - that would be my winner

PSB vs Kebt even! Will it be decided by Jeff's holiday absence oh no!?

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The Historiography Of Pop Part 4 aka A Point Is All That Two Can Score

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Oh yikes